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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

CEN 522:Microprocessor
Systems and Interfacing
Introduction
BY OMORUYI O. and Chukwu E.
 Evolution of Computer systems
• We can’t talk about microprocessors without talking
about micro computers.
• First Generation (1939-1954) - vacuum tube
• Second Generation Computers (1954-1959) - transistor
• Third Generation Computers (1959-1971) - IC
• Fourth Generation (1971-Present) - microprocessor
• Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond)
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 First Generation (1939-1954) - vacuum tube

• 1937 - John V. Atanasoff designed the first digital electronic computer

• 1939 - Atanasoff and Clifford Berry demonstrate in Nov. the ABC prototype
• 1941 - Konrad Zuse in Germany developed in secret the Z3
• 1943 - In Britain, the Colossus was designed in secret at Bletchley Park to
decode German messages
• 1944 - Howard Aiken developed the Harvard Mark I mechanical computer
for the Navy
• 1945 - John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert built ENIAC at U of PA for
the U.S. Army

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Atanasoff-Berry ABC Prototype

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Continued….

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 The idea….
•Electricity and electronics, not mechanical methods

•Binary numbers internally

•Separate memory made with capacitors, refreshed to maintain 0 or I state

•Direct 0-1 logic operations, not enumeration

•Since an expert computer1 requires about eight hours to solve a full set of eight equations in eight unknowns, k is about
1/64. To solve twenty equations in twenty unknowns should thus require 125 hours. But this caculation does not take
into effect the increased labor due to the greater chances of error in the larger systems ... The solution of general
systems of linear equations with a number of unknowns greater than ten is not often attempted. But this is precisely
what is needed to make approximate methods more effective in the solution of practical problems.

•Atanasoff’s original thought was to improve upon existing calculating machines, notably the IBM tabulator.

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 Second Generation Computers (1954-1959) - transistor
• 1950 - National Bureau of Standards (NBS) introduced its Standards Eastern
Automatic Computer (SEAC) with 10,000 newly developed germanium diodes in its
logic circuits, and the first magnetic disk drive designed by Jacob Rabinow
• 1953 - Tom Watson, Jr., led IBM to introduce the model 604 computer, its first with
transistors, that became the basis of the model 608 of 1957, the first solid-state
computer for the commercial market. Transistors were expensive at first, cost $8 vs.
$.75 for a vacuum tube. But Watson was impressed with the new transistor radios and
gave them to his engineers to study. IBM also developed the 650 Magnetic Drum
Calculator, the first by IBM to use magnetic drum memory rather than punched
cards, and began shipment of the 701 scientific "Defense Calculator" that was the
first of the Model 700 line that dominated main frame computers for the next decade

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604 board

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608 Calculator(1957)

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 Third Generation Computers (1959-1971) - IC

• 1959 - Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments patented the first integrated circuit in Feb. 1959; Kilby had made his
first germanium IC in Oct. 1958; Robert Noyce at Fairchild used planar process to make connections of
components within a silicon IC in early 1959; the first commercial product using IC was the hearing aid in
Dec. 1963; General Instrument made LSI chip (100+ components) for Hammond organs 1968
• 1964 - IBM produced SABRE, the first airline reservation tracking system for American Airlines; IBM
announced the System/360 all-purpose computer, using 8-bit character word length (a "byte") that was
pioneered in the 7030 of April 1961 that grew out of the AF contract of Oct. 1958 following Sputnik to
develop transistor computers for BMEWS
• 1968 - DEC introduced the first "mini-computer", the PDP-8, named after the mini-skirt; DEC was founded in
1957 by Kenneth H. Olsen who came for the SAGE project at MIT and began sales of the PDP-1 in 1960
• 1969 - Development began on ARPAnet, funded by the DOD
• 1971 - Intel produced large scale integrated (LSI) circuits that were used in the digital delay line, the first
digital audio device

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 What’s an IC?
• IC’S are combination of
components on the same block
of semiconductor material.
• “Because he was newly employed, Kilby had no vacation like the
rest of the staff. Working alone in the lab, he saw an opportunity to
find a solution of his own to the miniaturization problem. Kilby's
idea was to make all the components and the chip out of the same
The Transistor block (monolith) of semiconductor material. When the rest of the
workers returned from vacation, Kilby presented his new idea to his
superiors. He was allowed to build a test version of his circuit. In
September 1958, he had his first integrated circuit ready. It was
tested and it worked perfectly!”
• http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/
integrated_circuit/history/